Dahshour

After visiting the pyramids of Giza and Saqqara with tons of visitors, me and my family went to Dahshour. It is a place that every visitor to the Egyptian pyramids should visit. Until recently, it was possible to visit only the Red Pyramid from the inside, but from 2019 you can also enter the Bent Pyramid. Apart from them, there are a few others, inaccessible to visitors. Admission costs only EGP 60 ($2) per adult and includes the entrance to the two pyramids. Compared to Giza or Saqqara, it is a much better value for money. We started from the inside of the Red Pyramid, where you have to climb from a hundred steps in an inclined position to reach the burial chamber. My daughter hardly had to bend over, but her parents felt some rarely used muscles. On the second day we had great difficulty in walking up the stairs.

The culmination of the day was the Bent Pyramid. It is distinguished not only by its unusual shape, but also by the use of polished stone. And an extremely difficult approach to the burial chamber (see photo). While the Red Pyramid squeezed the seventh sweat, Bent is a real hardcore. I made a count – you have to overcome 130 steps of stairs and 220 steps / rungs on the ramp – the latter of course bending down hard, sometimes so much that you have to walk on all fours.

Maybe that's why we have the …

The Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid are close to an off-limits military zone but should be visited to give you a clear idea of the first attempts of pyramid construction. I climbed up to the heart of the Dahshur pyramid and on a clear day you can clearly spot several pyramid ruins in the distance (inside the military zone). Together with Saqqara, I feel these deserve a WHS listing